FoI
Nodding Snake Root
Share Foto info
Nodding Snake Root
P Native Photo: Tabish
Common name: Nodding Snake Root
Botanical name: Ophiorrhiza nutans    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)

Nodding Snake Root is a weak to erect herb, to 70 cm tall; stems densely reddish brown. Leaves arise in nearly equal to unequal pairs; leaf-stalk 0.5-2 cm, densely velvet-hairy; blade drying papery, ovate, lanceshaped, elliptic, or elliptic-oblong, 3-8 x 1.5-4 cm, sparsely hairy or bristly above, base blunt to somewhat rounded then narrowed, margins ciliolate, entire or wavy, tip pointed to cuspidate. Inflorescence are borne in congested-cyme-like to corymb-like, many flowered clusters which are densely hirtellous, often nodding. Flower-cluster-stalk is 1-3 cm; bracts linear-oblong or lanceshaped, 5-10 mm, fringed with hairs. Flowers are nearly stalkless, sepal-cup densely bristlyulous to becoming hairless; hypanthium top-shaped, about 1.5 mm; sepals lanceshaped, about 1.2 mm. Flowers are white, tubular-funnel-shaped, hairless or sparsely bristly outside; tube 9 mm, petals nearly triangular or ovate, 2-3 mm, dorsally narrowly winged. Nodding Snake Root is found in Nepal to NE India, Myanmar, Yunnan, at altitudes of 700-2400 m.

Identification credit: J.M. Garg Photographed in Sikkim.

• Is this flower misidentified? If yes,